We are looking for fiction and non-fiction of the highest quality. We are keen to receive literary and commercial fiction. I am always on the lookout for an immersive, exquisitely-written, plot-driven novel, as well as experimental fiction.

On the speculative fiction side, I lean towards books with a toehold in the ‘real’ world (e.g. Kindred, Station Eleven or Exit West) and literary fiction with elements of magical realism (Marquez, Allende, Calvino), or the spirit world (e.g. Beloved, The First Woman or Sing, Unburied, Sing).

We are also looking for non-fiction, particularly creative non-fiction, reportage, travel writing, memoir and nature writing. We do not represent plays, screenwriting, children’s books, horror or high fantasy; please do not send manuscripts within these genres as submissions will not be read. 

** Update – January 2026. **

We are currently closed to submissions. We have had a very large number of submissions over the holidays and are taking a break from accepting new work for a few months whilst we catch up with the backlog. We will re-open for submissions on 1st May 2026.

To submit your work, please e-mail submissions@laxfieldliterary.com following these guidelines:

1. Please include the title of your work in the subject line of the email.

2. Please send your work in a Word document, and ensure your contact details and word count are clearly visible on the title page.

• For fiction, please include a covering note in the body of the email telling us a little about yourself, a synopsis in a separate Word document and the first three chapters of the book.
• For non-fiction, please include a covering note in the body of the email with some information about yourself and the background to the book, a one-page summary of the project, a table of contents (or chapter outline) and two or three sample chapters.

We will endeavour to get back to you within six weeks of receiving your work. We appreciate the effort it takes to put together a submission, so we will take time to consider your work carefully. We are keen to know why you think Laxfield Literary would be a good fit for you, so please take time to tell us. We respond best to personalised emails! Please note that due to the number of requests we receive, we are unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful submissions. Submissions which are generic in nature, or give no indication why you believe Laxfield Literary would be a good match for your work, will be deleted.

If you have particular requirements or disabilities that mean you need additional support with the submissions process, please contact us at info@laxfieldliterary.com so that we can discuss an alternative way of receiving your submission.

Please note that there are an increasing number of scams from people impersonating agents. If we would like to see your manuscript, we will contact email you from our submissions email address; any emails purporting to be from Emma Shercliff at a personal email address should be disregarded.